1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display method and a stereoscopic image display apparatus using the same and, more particularly, to a stereoscopic image display method, which utilizes a parallax barrier method, and a stereoscopic image display apparatus using the same.
2. Related Background Art
A stereoscopic image can be displayed by displaying parallax images picked up from different view points on the right and left eyes of an observer. In order to display different parallax images on the right and left eyes, a method of directly projecting different parallax images onto the right and left eyes like in a so-called HMD (Head Mounted Display or Helmet Mounted Display) method, a method of separating right and left images using polarized light, and making the observer view the separated images using polarization spectacles, a method of separating right and left images using a parallax barrier, and the like have been proposed.
The technique of stereoscopic image display using the parallax barrier method is disclosed by S. H. Kaplan, "Theory of Parallax Barriers", J. SMPTE, Vol. 59, No. 7, pp. 11-21, 1952. FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of the conventional stereoscopic image display method based on the parallax barrier method. In this method, two, right and left parallax images R.sub.S and L.sub.S picked up from different view points are divided into stripe-shaped pixels, and a stripe image is synthesized by extracting and alternately arranging the stripe-shaped pixels. The synthesized stripe image is displayed on the display surface of a display 101. A parallax barrier 102 is formed by arranging, in the horizontal direction, a large number of aperture portions and light-shielding portions each having a predetermined width, at a position separated by a distance T from the display surface. The observer observes the stripe image via the parallax barrier 102 from the positions of his or her right and left eyes E.sub.R and E.sub.L. As a result, the observer observes the original parallax images R.sub.S and L.sub.S with his or her right and left eyes, thus realizing stereoscopic viewing.
However, in the HMD method or the method using polarization spectacles, the observer must wear an HMD device, polarization spectacles, or the like, which are not normally required.
On the other hand, the conventional method using a parallax barrier does not require any special member such as polarization spectacles. However, when the right and left parallax images are displayed, the number of display pixels is halved, resulting in a low resolution.